Search for Thuminad on Google, and the first name that pops up is Prakash Thuminadu, the fine actor who’s hit a purple patch now. A couple of links later comes the name of JP Thuminad, fondly called JP, who has given Kannada films a fresh lease of life with Su From So, a hilarious horror-comedy-drama that has seen house full boards crop up all over the place and had online ticket bookings apps say hello to the colour grey again.
The film has also allowed Kannada cinema a moment to catch its breath after a couple of years of trepidation and box office rejection.
Long before the prefix 'JP' was attached to his name, the director everyone is now looking at with awe also went by the name of Prakash. Now, how could a small village deal with two Prakashs, both actors?
“At the local bhajana mandira which both of us visited, someone called me Jayaprakash, and before I knew it, it was shortened to JP. Officially, I am also Prakash,” smiles JP.
This village in Manjeshwara in Kerala’s Kasaragod district borders the Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka. The village is the birthplace of some fine talents in Kannada. Tulu is a common language, as is that fine ability to milk humour from anything. This is the cradle from which JP Thuminad has risen.
JP, 38, used to be known for his sincere work as a painter in the construction field. He had a penchant for narrating stories as they worked the brushes and writing, rewriting, and polishing words with a dedication that was rare.
In those days, when he would narrate his stories to friends, he’d say the stories were the plots of films he’d watched because he wondered how seriously they’d take him. Only one friend, Madhu, knew the stories were his.
He also wanted to explore a career in films and made his debut in Raj B Shetty’s Ondu Motteya Kathe (2017) as the student who blackmails the teacher to give him extra marks. That teacher was Raj, who produced Su From So. The screen teacher and student have created a film that has left the industry in a happy daze after a long time.
Before Ondhu Motteya Kathe, a small group of actors, writers, and possible directors in Dakshina Kannada and Kasargod were working on improving their craft, hoping to break into cinema. Raj was one, and JP was another.
JP kept narrating his stories to Raj, and they’d discuss the films. “He’d tell me new facets and ask, ‘Why is this present in the story? Why is that not there?’ I had exhausted my stock of stories."
He adds, "At one point, I wanted to make a short film that Raj Sir would like. I wanted to make him smile. That was my only goal. Finally, I decided to make a film without telling him the story. I called him before the shoot. He told me to do a good job, to enjoy the process. That film was Maa (2020)."
“Raj Sir saw it and smiled in approval but had a few suggestions too. That was my first award,” JP says.
Sometime later, sitting in Mangaluru’s Bharath Cinemas, which Raj, JP and others consider their home ground, JP narrated the story of a ubiquitous do-gooder in a village and how the spirit of a woman enters the body of a local painter. When leaving, Raj said the story should be titled Sulochana from Someshwara. “There was no Sulochana or Someshwara in my story, but it lit a spark,” he smiles.
Years later, on July 21, 2025, Su From So would have its first paid premiere in that very theatre complex where JP had watched numerous movies. JP sat by the steps in the hall, peeping up every now and then to see how much a joke had landed. He was certain it would land, but the extent was unclear.
After the show, peppered with loads of laughter and people slapping the seat handles in joy, many rushed up to JP, hugging him, delighted that ‘their’ boy had made it. “I definitely did not expect that. I thought only people associated with theatre in this region would come with their families. Because no one else knew us.”
Now, the film, a certified blockbuster in Karnataka, is doing very well in Kerala and is making strides in the Telugu market, where it released on August 8. JP says it is yet to sink in but says it sure feels “nice” that people are laughing so much in cinema halls.
“When I was writing the script, I did not know which genre the film would fall in. I just began writing something that felt close to my heart. I fixed my characters first, then linked their lives. All my training in theatre (he was part of the Sharada Arts theatre group in Manjeshwara) came to my aid. I wanted to write and make a movie that felt natural.”
Before the release of Su From So, he used to travel 20-25 km by bus to Mangaluru to meet Raj, drawn by the desire to speak about cinema. “Sometimes, I would call Sir and speak to him for hours.”
Once, Raj told JP to develop a novel by writer Jogi. “I usually buy books from Karnataka Pustaka Malige in Balmatta, Mangaluru. I called the owner, but he’d closed the shop and was on his way home by bus. Upon my request, he came back to give me the book. I finished it that night.” That film never came to be, but JP narrates this to show the kind of bonds forged in small-town India and why those are the folks who populate his film.
Raj asked JP to write a story set in his town. “We have so many interesting characters in our town. There’s a Ravi anna too,” says JP. Once Raj gave the film a title, JP focused on both Someshwara and Sulochana. “I realised I could call the spirit Sulochana, and I was familiar with Someshwara, and as I worked on it, Bhanu appeared,” JP says.
“I grew up surrounded by sisters, female cousins and neighbours. I was a helpless bystander as they discussed how they felt violated by people’s gaze and disturbed by how society sees them. People who wore a dignified cloak by day turned into lecherous beings at night. And the girls and women had to silently bear it all because they had no way to tell their stories. So many girls suffered within the house. Gopala’s character came from that, and as I was writing, I knew what Bhanu’s trajectory would be,” he recalls.
Ravi Anna has charmed audiences across languages, and JP says his brief to Shaneel Gautham, who played the character, was that everyone from the young to the old should love him. “I told him to think of how Ravi Anna helps everyone. Even in today’s world, he is considered a safe space by children who take a ride with him to school. He’s innocent despite his physique, and everyone, irrespective of age, calls him ‘anna’. Shaneel worked on his body language to inspire that kind of love.”
When did JP, until then more popularly known as Putti’s husband Deepak from Hemanth M Rao’s Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side B (2023), decide to play Ashoka? “I knew the character of Ashoka intimately and felt I could do justice to it. It was also a chance to bid goodbye to Deepak and enter the psyche of another character,” JP replies.
Incidentally, Hemanth has been writing on social media about the ten years of hard work by JP and saying the success of Su From So is proof that good guys do win.
Su From So might feature unlimited laughs up to a point, but the laughs were not incidental. They were the result of careful curation. “I did not write my dialogues until I narrated my script to some people. Only if they laughed would that portion enter my final draft. I’ve done that for my plays too. I would always sit in a corner and watch what worked and what did not,” JP explains.
Looking back, he says the first set of people to enjoy Su From So even before audiences were his team. “When we make a film, it means we are confident about our subject. But it is important to have a good time while shooting it. The artiste is the first audience, and all of us loved the process,” says JP.
So, what’s JP feeling now? Pressure or responsibility? “I really can’t say. I am pleasantly numb. I close my eyes but am unable to sleep. I keep scrolling through reels. For two years, I was away from the mobile phone. Now, amidst all this touring, I have forgotten where I am,” he laughs.
Now that JP’s firmly cemented his place in cinema, what about theatre? “That will continue. I will keep writing and directing and, hopefully, acting too.”
Subha J Rao is an entertainment journalist covering Tamil and Kannada cinema and is based out of Mangaluru, Karnataka.
